Method and System for Emergency Call Handling

ABSTRACT

A vehicle communication system includes a computer processor in communication with persistent and non-persistent memory. The system also includes a local wireless transceiver in communication with the computer processor and configured to communicate wirelessly with a cellular telephone located at the vehicle. The system further includes a backup power circuit comprising a charge storage device such as a local battery or capacitor having enough charge to power the computer processor and local wireless transceiver long enough to send an emergency call signal to the cellular telephone, and an emergency call command signal is sent from the local wireless transceiver to the cellular telephone in the event a vehicle emergency is detected at the computer processor and vehicle power is lost. The signal causes the cellular telephone to place or continue an emergency call to an emergency responder or agency over the cellular telephone network.

TECHNICAL FIELD

The illustrative embodiments generally relate to a method and system foremergency call handling.

BACKGROUND

ONSTAR offers a SAFE & SOUND program in which a human “Advisor” fieldsemergency calls from ONSTAR-equipped vehicles. Calls are manuallyinitiated at the vehicle either by depressing an emergency buttonlocated within the passenger compartment (e.g. below the rear-viewmirror) or automatically initiated upon deployment of an air bag in theevent of a collision. Collisions may be detected using one or moreaccelerometers or other impact detecting devices mounted within thevehicle.

An emergency call from an ONSTAR-equipped vehicle to the Advisorswitchboard indicates the geographic location of the vehicle, and placesthe Advisor in voice communication with the passenger compartment. TheAdvisor attempts to communicate with the occupant(s) of the vehicle todetermine the severity and circumstances of the incident giving rise tothe emergency call. If the Advisor determines that emergency attentionis necessary, either because of the occupant response(s), or becausethere was no response indicating that the occupant(s) may be ejectedand/or severely injured, the Advisor dispatches emergency respondersclosest to the reported location of the vehicle.

U.S. Pat. No. 7,119,669 titled “Method And Apparatus For DetectingVehicular Collisions” describes a cellular telephone that is equippedwith technology for detecting a vehicular collision. This system isportable and operates independently, without the need of embeddedvehicular subsystems, such as an accelerometer to detect collisions or aglobal positioning system to detect vehicle velocity and location. Thesesubsystems are embedded into the cellular telephone described in the'669 patent. The '699 patent describes communicating electronic data,such as the magnitude, time and location of the collision to authoritiesin the even a collision is detected. The '699 patent also describesplaying prerecorded messages about the device's owner, including medicalinformation. The '699 patent describes various software “filters” forscreening out “false positives” or “false collision detections” to avoidunnecessarily contacting emergency responders in non-emergencysituations, such as when the cellular telephone is accidentally dropped.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,918,180 titled “Telephone Operable Global TrackingSystem For Vehicles” describes a system for tracking vehicles using acellular telephone and global positioning system that is located in thevehicle. The system also includes a speech synthesizer circuit thatconverts the digitally-encoded coordinates into speech for enunciatingthe vehicle location through the cellular telephone. By calling thecellular telephone from a remote location, the owner of the vehicle candetermine its location. The '180 patent also describes using the systemto call the police.

U.S. Pat. No. 5,555,286 titled “Cellular Phone Based Automatic EmergencyVessel/Vehicle Location System” describes a navigation unit thatreceives GPS data, and upon receipt of an activation event such as anairbag deployment, causes DTMF tones to be generated in a cellulartelephone for dialing an emergency responder. The geographic locationinformation and the identity of the vehicle are synthesized into voiceand are then communicated to the emergency responder using the cellulartelephone connection.

SUMMARY

In one illustrative embodiment, a vehicle communication system includesa computer processor in communication with persistent and non-persistentmemory. The system also includes a local wireless transceiver incommunication with the computer processor. The local wirelesstransceiver may be configured to communicate wirelessly with a cellulartelephone located at the vehicle. The persistent memory includes anapplication for execution by the computer processor to communicate anemergency call command signal from local wireless transceiver to thecellular telephone in the event a vehicle emergency is detected at thecomputer processor, causing the cellular telephone to place an emergencycall to an emergency responder or agency over the cellular telephonenetwork. Because vehicle power to the computer processor and localwireless transceiver may be lost in the event of an emergency, thesystem may also include a backup power circuit comprising a chargestorage device such as a local battery or capacitor having enough chargeto power the computer processor and local wireless transceiver longenough to initiate the emergency call at the cellular telephone.

In another illustrative embodiment, a vehicle communication systemincludes a computer processor in communication with persistent andnon-persistent memory. The system also includes a local wireless networktransceiver in communication with the computer processor. The localwireless network transceiver may be configured to communicate wirelesslywith a remote wireless network transceiver connected to a computernetwork, such as the Internet.

The persistent memory includes an application for execution by thecomputer processor to communicate an emergency call signal from localwireless network transceiver to the remote wireless network transceiverin the event of an emergency at the vehicle. The remote wireless networktransceiver converts the received signal into one or more packets fortransmission over the computer network to notify an emergency responderor agency that an emergency has occurred at the vehicle. The packets maybe routed to a network router to route the packets to the appropriatenetwork address for addressing the emergency. The appropriate networkaddress may be based on criteria including but not limited to thenetwork address of the remote wireless transceiver, or the location ofthe vehicle as defined by vehicle location information included with theemergency call signal. The vehicle location information may be suppliedto the computer processor at the vehicle by a global positioning system.The packets may include data or attributes identifying the packets asemergency call packets for facilitating routing through the computernetwork.

One or more illustrative embodiments may include an apparatus andprocess for maintaining continuous connectivity between the vehicleemergency response module and at least one cellular telephone or otherwireless communication device within the vehicle. Appropriatenotifications and status indicators may be provided to inform vehicleoccupants that connectivity is established, or broken.

In addition to notifying vehicle occupants, in one or more illustrativeembodiments it may be desirable to notify a control system within thevehicle of the status of am emergency call. For example, this could beuseful in determining if a call is connected, dropped, transferred, etc.According to a one aspect of the illustrative embodiments, upon theactivation of one or more crash-related sensors, for example, arestraint control module (RCM) that an eCall is being placed.

In illustrative embodiments, the call may continue to be transmitteduntil a confirmation state is set within a vehicle system. Theconfirmation state could confirm the answer of the call, or it couldconfirm that an actual operator has taken an action, or any othersuitable call connection event. In these illustrative embodiments, oncethe call connection has been confirmed, the vehicle may stop attemptingto place a call.

Additionally, in one or more illustrative embodiments, while an eCall isbeing placed, all other types of calls and data transfer may be blockedor otherwise suspended. This may help ensure that the resources of anomadic device, such as a cell phone, PDA, etc., through which the callis being placed, are being used for the appropriate purpose.

Further, in one or more illustrative embodiments, when a crash isdetected, a vehicle system may activate an SOS mode. The SOS mode mayinclude, but is not limited to, activation of audible vehicle outputssuch as the vehicle horn. Such noise may interfere with a call beingplaced, and, resultantly, the vehicle horn or other audible outputs(alarm, etc.) may be silenced while an eCall is being placed.

In one or more additional illustrative embodiments, an eCall transceiveror equivalent device may cause a call to be placed and/or transmit thestatus of an attempted call to other vehicle systems. A non-limitinglist of exemplary status transmissions includes, but is not limited to:Call in Progress, Unsuccessful, Call Complete, Canceled, Configured OFF,and Normal. Other appropriate status conditions could also betransmitted.

In yet further illustrative embodiments, a driver/passenger may elect tomake a call private. This transfers control of the call from a vehiclesystem (mic and speakers) to the nomadic device through which the callis being made. Additionally, many vehicles automatically terminatevehicle power if the vehicle is turned off and/or the vehicle door(s)are opened. While useful for turning off, for example, the radio, such asystem would typically result in cessation of a call. In order that thecall not be lost, when such an event occurs (e.g., vehicle turned off,and/or doors opened), control of the call is automatically transferredto the nomadic device. This prevents calls being lost if the passengermust flee the vehicle due to risk of fire or other hazard, or if thepassenger simply wishes to leave the vehicle, but continue the call.

Yet another aspect of one or more illustrative embodiments activates thecellular telephone to dial a telephone number of a predefined contactother than an emergency responder, and communicate the speech signals tothe predefined contact.

These aspects of illustrative embodiments are not exclusive. Otheraspects of the present invention are detailed in the following detaileddescription of the preferred embodiments, the accompanying figures andclaims.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

FIG. 1 is a system diagram illustrating exemplary physical aspects ofone or more illustrative embodiments;

FIG. 2 is another exemplary system usable to implement the illustrativeembodiments;

FIG. 3 is a block diagram of a BLUETOOTH controller which may beimplemented to support the illustrative embodiments;

FIG. 4 is a flow diagram illustrating an exemplary process of one ormore illustrative embodiments;

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow showing one or more possible selectableand/or automatic transmission modes for an eCall in progress;

FIG. 6 is an exemplary illustrative diagram of an exemplary system forplacing an eCall;

FIG. 7 is an exemplary state diagram of an RCM or equivalent device;

FIG. 8 is an exemplary state diagram of an eCall receiver or equivalentdevice; and

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary routine for activating an eCall system.

These figures are not exclusive representations of the systems andprocesses that may be implemented to carry out the inventions recited inthe appended claims. Those of skill in the art will recognize that theillustrated system and process embodiments may be modified or otherwiseadapted to meet a claimed implementation of the present invention, orequivalents thereof.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION OF ILLUSTRATIVE EMBODIMENTS

FIG. 1 illustrates a non-limiting physical system architecture which maybe implemented to practice one or more illustrative embodiments. Block10 generally comprises vehicle sub-systems, some of which may beinterconnected by a vehicle network 12 such as a Controller Area Networkor other suitable communication network.

Data processor 16 may receive and send information across vehiclenetwork 12 through an appropriate network interface or bus adapter 24.Data processor 16 may be a traditional RISC or CISC processor in buscommunication with general purpose volatile memory 26, and generalpurpose non-volatile or persistent storage 22, such as magnetic or flashmemory, as is well known in the art. Removable memory 40 may also beprovided, such as a compact flash card or a flash memory module having aUniversal Serial Bus (USB) interface (not shown).

A global positioning signal receiver/processor 14 may be implemented toreceive radio signals (e.g. the L1 frequency of 1575.42 MHz in the UHFband) from multiple satellites of the Navigation Signal Timing andRanging (NAVSTAR) Global Positioning System. These signals may include apseudorandom code identifying the transmitting satellite, ephemeris dataand almanac data. The global positioning signal receiver/processor 14may process this data to determine the two-dimensional location (e.g.latitude and longitude), the three-dimensional location (e.g. latitude,longitude and altitude), the velocity and/or the direction of thevehicle. Location, velocity and/or direction information calculated atthe global positioning signal receiver/processor 14 may be communicatedacross vehicle network 12, and/or directly to data processor 16 via link18.

Alternatively, a global positioning signal receiver/processor 53 may bea subsystem of cellular telephone 50. Information representing theglobal position of the cellular telephone, and thus the vehicle in whichthe cellular telephone is located, may be retrieved by data processor 16via transceiver 38 and communication link 46.

The vehicle sub-systems may include a map database 20. Database 20, likegeneral storage 22, may take several forms including but no limited tomagnetic storage (e.g. a hard drive), optical storage (e.g. CD-ROM,DVD), flash memory, etc. Data processor 16 may determine a presentstreet location and heading of the vehicle based on latitude, longitudeand direction data received from GPS receiver/processor, and map dataretrieved from database 20, as is well known in the art.

A plurality of emergency condition sensors 28 may be interfaced tovehicle network 28. Such sensors may include but are not limited to airbag deployment sensors, vehicle impact sensors, dash impact sensors,seat/occupant impact sensors, rollover sensors, flame/heat sensors,gasoline sensors and an occupant-activated panic button. These sensorsmay operate within individual processing modules (not shown), eachhaving a separate interface (not shown) to the vehicle network 12 forsending signals indicating a plurality of different emergencyconditions.

Another subsystem in communication with data processor 16 includes avoice synthesizer or decoder 28 for converting digital informationreceived from the data processor 16 into audible speech signals, i.e.analog sound signals. The analog sound signals may be communicatedthrough speaker 32, or processed at transceiver 38, for communication tocellular telephone 50 transceiver (not shown) across piconet 46 asdiscussed in greater detail below. A dual-tone multifrequency (DTMF)interface 30 may be provided for receiving analog DTMF frequencies andprocessing them as command signals to data processor 16, as is wellknown in the art of automated telephone menu systems.

Transceiver 38 may establish a piconet 46 with cellular telephone 50 orother available device. Cellular telephone 50 is an example of atransient cellular communication device that is not permanentlyintegrated into the vehicle. Another example of a transient cellularcommunication device may be a laptop computer having cellularcommunication and piconet communication capabilities.

In one example, transceiver 38 may comprise a BLUETOOTH controller.Those of skill in the art will recognize that other transceivers may beused having different communication characteristics and performance.Other vehicle subsystems include a link status indicator 36 fornotifying vehicle occupants of the status of the communication linkbetween transceiver 38 and cellular telephone 50. Statuses include, butare not limited to, available devices, paired, unpaired, connected, notconnected, etc. In one illustrative embodiment, the status of thecommunication link is indicated on a liquid crystal display (LCD). Inanother illustrative embodiment, one or more light emitting diodes(LEDs) or other visual indicators are provided. In yet anotherillustrative embodiment, audible status notifications are providedthrough the vehicle sound system and/or speaker 32. Link status may bemonitored by data processor 16 in conjunction with transceiver 38.

A select/cancel switch 34 may also interface with data processor 16 forpush-button control over microprocessor/system functions as described ingreater detail below. Select/cancel switch 34 may be a soft switchoperating in conjunction with a LCD display, or a software switchoperated by voice command received at microphone 32 and processed byvoice synthesizer 28 and/or microprocessor 16.

A wide variety of different interconnections among subsystems andexternal communication networks may be practiced within the scope of thepresent invention, beyond those illustrated in FIG. 1. For example, ahard wire connection may be established between cellular telephone 50and data processor 16, voice synthesizer 28, and/or DTMF interface 30.In another example, data processor 16 may be connected directly orindirectly to emergency sensor modules 28, and may monitor the ports towhich the emergency sensor modules are attached instead of vehiclenetwork 12.

In one or more illustrative embodiments, cellular telephone 50establishes wireless communication 48 with terrestrial tower 52.Terrestrial tower 52 in turn established communication through telephoneswitching network 54 with emergency responder(s) 56. Emergencyresponders may include police, ambulance, a 911 public safety accesspoint (PSAP), etc. as described in greater detail below. Terrestrialtower 52 may also establish communication through telephone switchingnetwork 54 with other contacts 58, as described in greater detail below.Based on the GPS position, for example, a call may be placed to the PSAPthat is local to the vehicle's present position.

In one or more illustrative embodiments, terrestrial tower 52 mayestablish communication through telephone switching network 54 with adata interface (not shown) at web server 60. As described in greaterdetail below, data may be uploaded and downloaded communicated fromassociated database 68 to/from storage 22 associated with microprocessor16, as illustrated by dashed line 70.

Web server 60 having associated storage 68 may host a plurality of webpages for Internet access 62 by a plurality of browsers, including butnot limited to emergency responder(s) 66, cellular telephone owner(s)64, healthcare providers, etc. As described in greater detail below,some browsers, such as cellular telephone owners 64 may upload data overInternet 62 to storage 68, and other browsers, such as emergencyresponders 66 may download data.

FIG. 2 illustrates system architecture of a second exemplaryillustrative onboard communication system which can make use of theillustrative embodiments. A vehicle enabled with a communication system(VCS) may contain a visual front end interface 79 located in thevehicle. The user may also be able to interact with the interface if itis provided, for example, with a touch sensitive or capacitative touchscreen. In another illustrative embodiment, the interaction occursthrough audible speech and speech synthesis.

In the illustrative embodiment 71 shown in FIG. 2 a processor 72controls the operation of the system. Provided within the vehicleitself, the processor allows onboard processing of commands androutines. Further, the processor is connected to both temporary 73 andpermanent storage 74. In this illustrative embodiment, the temporarystorage is random access memory (RAM) and the permanent storage is ahard disk drive (HDD) or flash memory.

The processor is also provided with a number of different inputs for theuser to interface with the processor. In this illustrative embodiment, amicrophone 87, an auxiliary input 85 (for input 89), a USB input 83, aGPS input 84 and a BLUETOOTH input 78 are all provided. An inputselector 90 is also provided, to allow a user to swap between variousinputs. Alternatively, inputs may be automatically selected usingcircuitry and programming to determine at which input a signal isavailable. In one embodiment, this may be accomplished by comparingsignals or signal levels at the various inputs. Input to both themicrophone and the auxiliary connector is converted from analog todigital by a converter 86 before being passed to the processor.

Outputs to the system can include, but are not limited to, a visualdisplay 79 and a speaker 77 or stereo system output. The speaker isconnected to an amplifier 76 and receives its signal from the processor72 through a digital-to-analog converter 75. Output can also be made toa remote BLUETOOTH device (not shown) or a USB device (not shown) alongthe bi-directional data streams shown at 81 and 82 respectively.Alternatively, audio output may be channeled through the vehiclesaudio/stereo system.

In one illustrative embodiment, the system 71, uses the BLUETOOTHtransceiver 78 to communicate 80 with a user's nomadic device 91 (e.g.,cell phone, smart phone, PDA, etc.). The nomadic device can then be usedto communicate 107 with a network 111 outside the vehicle 88 through,for example, communication 93 with a cellular tower 103.

Pairing a nomadic device 91 and the BLUETOOTH transceiver 78 can beinstructed through a button 91 or similar input, telling the CPU thatthe onboard BLUETOOTH transceiver will be paired with a BLUETOOTHtransceiver in a nomadic device.

Data may be communicated between CPU 72 and network 111 utilizing adata-plan associated with nomadic device 91. Alternatively, it may bedesirable to include an onboard modem 115 in order to transfer databetween CPU 72 and network 111 over the voice band. In one illustrativeembodiment, the processor is provided with an operating system includingan API to communicate with modem application software. The modemapplication software may access an embedded module or firmware on theBLUETOOTH transceiver to complete wireless communication with a remoteBLUETOOTH transceiver (such as that found in a nomadic device). Inanother embodiment, nomadic device 91 includes a modem for voice band orbroadband data communication. In the data-over-voice embodiment, atechnique known as frequency division multiplexing may be implementedwhen the owner of the nomadic device can talk over the device while datais being transferred. At other times, when the owner is not using thedevice, the data transfer can use the whole bandwidth (300 Hz to 3.4 kHzin one example). If the user has a data-plan associated with the nomadicdevice, it is possible that the data-plan allows for broad-bandtransmission and the system could use a much wider bandwidth (speedingup data transfer). In still another embodiment, nomadic device 91 isreplaced with a cellular communication device (not shown) that isaffixed to vehicle 88.

In another alternative embodiment, CPU 72 may interface with a LAN/WANwireless transceiver (not shown) for communicating with Network 111 vianon-cellular wireless link, such as Wi-Fi, WIMAX, etc. Nomadic device 91may include the LAN/WAN wireless transceiver.

Additional inputs and or devices may include a personal navigationdevice 92, having, for example, a USB connection 101 and/or an antenna105, or a vehicle navigation device 109, having a USB 113 or otherconnection, an onboard GPS device 84, or remote navigation system (notshown) having connectivity to network 111.

As illustrated in FIG. 3, a BLUETOOTH controller may include a linkmanager layer 94, a baseband layer 95 and a radio layer 96. In anillustrative embodiment, the radio layer 96 may include a radiofrequency module 97 operating at 2.4 GHz using binary frequencymodulation.

Baseband layer 95 may include a baseband resource manager 99 formanaging the exchange of data between connected devices over logicallinks and logical transports, as well as the use of the radio medium tocarry out inquiries, make connections, or be discoverable.

Baseband layer 95 may also include a link controller 98 which handlesencoding and decoding of BLUETOOTH packets from the data payload andparameters related to the physical channel, logical transport andlogical link. The link controller 98 carries out the link controlprotocol signaling that is used to communicate flow control andacknowledgment and retransmission request signals.

Device manager 100 controls the general behavior of the BLUETOOTHenabled device. It is responsible for operation of the BLUETOOTH systemthat is not directly related to data transport, such as inquiring forthe presence of other nearby devices, connecting to other devices ormaking the local device discoverable or connectable by other devices.

The link manager layer 94 may include a link manager for managing thecreation, modification, and release of logical links and/or logicaltransports, as well as the update of parameters related to physicallinks between devices. The link manager may achieve this bycommunicating with the link manager in remote BLUETOOTH devices usingthe link management protocol (LMP). The LMP allows the creation of newlogical links and logical transports between devices when required, aswell as the general control of link and transport attributes such as theenabling of encryption on the logical transport, the adapting oftransmit power on the physical link or the adjustment of QoS settingsfor a logical link.

FIG. 4 illustrates an example algorithm for implementing one or moreillustrative embodiments. Those of skill in the art will recognize thatthe scope of the present invention is not limited to the specificalgorithm illustrated in FIG. 4. The illustrated process may be modifiedto fit any illustrative embodiments. The processes illustrated in FIG. 4may be implemented by one or more processors, such as data processor 16illustrated in FIG. 1. No particular type of processor or configurationis required.

At step 102, a local communication link may be established with anavailable cellular telephone in or nearby the vehicle passengercompartment. The link may be a BLUETOOTH piconet, or other suitableshort-range network, wired or wireless. At steps 104 and 106, the statusof the communication link may monitored on a continuous or basis, or atregular intervals. The status of the link may include the connectivityof the paired cellular telephone, the signal strength, the identity ofother available devices, etc. described with respect to FIG. 1, linkstatus may be reported by LCD display, LED, or audibly. Preferably, awarning or other notification is provided to passengers within thevehicle compartment when a link is disrupted, or when no link isavailable.

At step 108, an emergency notification signal is received from vehicleemergency sensors 110. Vehicle emergency sensors 110 may include but arenot limited to: air bag deployment sensors, air curtain deploymentsensors, thorax deployment sensors, knee bolster deployment sensors,adaptive can vent and/or tether deployment sensors vehicle impactsensors, dash impact sensors, seat impact sensors, rollover sensors,flame sensors, gasoline sensors, fuel cutoff sensors, etc. Emergencysignals from these sensors may be received at data processor 16 directlyby wire, wirelessly, or over vehicle network 12.

Upon receipt of an emergency notification signal, the system may notifyoccupants of the vehicle, at step 112, that an emergency call to one ormore emergency responders 56 or other contacts 58 is going to be made atcellular telephone 50. Occupant notification is preferably done audiblyusing voice synthesizer 28 and speaker 32 which may or may not be acomponent of the vehicle sound system. The following is an examplenotification:

-   -   “Warning. A safety sensor in this vehicle has detected a vehicle        collision. The vehicle safety system will automatically contact        emergency responders in 10 seconds. Press your cancel button or        say CANCEL if you want to terminate this call.”

Of course, an unlimited number of different notifications may beprovided. They may be pre-recorded, pre-defined, or dynamically createdbased on the particular emergency detected and/or the particularoccupant(s) within the vehicle. The notification may also be repeatedone or more times. At step 114, the vehicle occupants are provided withan opportunity to cancel the emergency call using the select/cancelswitch 22 or a voice command received at microphone 32 and voicesynthesizer 28. If a cancellation signal is received, the process stops,and returns to monitoring link status at block 104.

If the emergency call is not terminated at 114, emergency information iscollected at step 118. Emergency information may include vehicleinformation 116 and occupant information 120. Vehicle information 116may include latitude, longitude, direction, last velocity, etc from GPSreceiver/processor 14, street location if the vehicle is equipped withmap data 20, vehicle type/color, vehicle emergency condition (e.g.,impact, fire, rollover, fire, gasoline leak, etc.), number of occupants,seat belt status, etc. Occupant information 120 may include name, age,address, blood type, medical allergies, medical condition, insuranceinformation, physician information, emergency contact(s), etc. Emergencyinformation may be stored in a plurality of storage locations includingmemory 26, storage 22, removable memory 40, or storage 51 associatedwith cellular telephone 50.

Occupant identification may be determined by the owner of the cellulartelephone 50 paired with transceiver 38, voice input at microphone 32,user input at a vehicle console display (not shown), or other meansincluding key identifier, memory key identifier, etc.

After emergency information is collected at step 118, another occupantnotification may be made warning the occupant(s) that an emergency callis going to be made, and providing the occupant(s) with an opportunityto cancel the call, as described above with respect to steps 112 and114. This step is represented by dashed lines 128.

If the emergency call is not canceled, transceiver 38 such as aBLUETOOTH controller may initiate a call on cellular telephone 50 to oneor more emergency responders 56 or other contacts 58 at step 121. If acall cannot be initiated, the system attempts to establish connectionwith another cellular telephone in or nearby the vehicle as representedat block 122, and communicate the emergency information as representedat block 121.

At step 124, elements of vehicle information 116 and/or occupantinformation 120 may be synthesized into speech signals at voicesynthesizer 28 and read to the terminating party 56 or 58 as indicatedat block 126. In one or more illustrative embodiments, the dataprocessor 16 and the voice synthesizer 28 provide the terminating party56 or 58 with touch tone DTMF menu options for repeating and retrievingthe various elements of vehicle information 116 and/or occupantinformation 120. This process is illustrated with dashed lines 130 and132.

If the occupant(s) have identified additional contacts 58 for reportingemergency information, those entities may be contacted, and emergencyinformation may be reported, as represented by step 134.

As illustrated in FIG. 1, emergency responders 66 and cellulartelephone/vehicle owners 64 may be provided with Internet access to webserver 60 having associated storage 68. Cellular telephone/vehicleowners 64 may access one or more Web pages hosted at server 60 fordefining the emergency information to be provided to emergencyresponders 56 and 66, and/or the manner in which that information isprovided. For example, cellular telephone/vehicle owners 64 may specifytheir name, age (date of birth), address, blood type, medical allergies,medical conditions, physician, emergency contact persons, etc. Cellulartelephone/vehicle owners 64 may specify which of this information isdisclosed to emergency responders 56 and/or 66 in the event of anemergency. The emergency information may be uploaded to cellulartelephone storage 51 via cellular link 48, and/or to in-vehicle storage22 for reporting via voice synthesizer 28 to emergency responders 56 andother contacts 58 in the event of an emergency.

The emergency information may also be stored in a database 68 associatedwith web server 68 for Internet access by emergency responders 66 in theevent of an emergency. In one embodiment, speech transmission toemergency responders 56 includes instructions for accessing occupantemergency information at server 60 over the Internet 62. In this manner,emergency responders 56 and/or 66 can readily access all of anoccupant's emergency information.

FIG. 5 is an exemplary flow showing one or more possible selectableand/or automatic transmission modes for an eCall in progress. Typically,when an eCall is placed, with above-described embodiments, incomingvoice is played through vehicle speakers and outgoing voice is recordedat a vehicle based microphone 141. In certain instances, however, it maybe desirable to have the call transferred to the nomadic device,eliminating the vehicle systems.

One non-limiting example would be if the system 71 is provided with aprivacy function. If a privacy function is selected 143, the call mightbe transferred to the nomadic device 147. The user might also be given anotification or a warning that this is about to occur 144, and be givenan opportunity to physically or verbally cancel the transfer 146. As oneexample, if the vehicle was in an accident, and a user was trapped, andsomething shifted and triggered the privacy feature. The user may beunable to physically cancel the transfer to an unreachable cell phone,so the user would vocally cancel the transfer. On the other hand, localnoise (e.g. kids, traffic, etc) might make the call hard to hear and/ormight make it hard for the operator to hear the user, so it might bedesirable to transfer the call to a handset.

Even if a user-directed transfer is not processed, it may be desirableto transfer the call automatically 145. One non-limiting example of asituation where this could occur is if the vehicle power was turned offor fails. In one embodiment, if the vehicle is turned off, the call canbe automatically transferred before the power down occurs, so the callis not lost. In such a case, CPU 72 would cause the call to betransferred to the nomadic device 147.

In an alternative embodiment, circuitry may be implemented for asituation in which vehicle power fails or is lost due to an accident orother event as illustrated in block 300. One aspect of the circuitry mayinclude a capacitor having and holding a certain charge while thevehicle is under normal 12 volt electrical power. In the event vehiclepower is lost, the circuitry may discharge enough charge from thecapacitor to power a BLUETOOTH transceiver as illustrated in blocks 301and 302. The BLUETOOTH transceiver then generates a dial string fortransmission to the Nomadic device to make an emergency call and notifyemergency responders that an accident has occurred as indicated in block303.

In one non-limiting implementation of this embodiment, the dial stringmay include a series of commas before “911” to permit the occupant tocancel the emergency call if it is unnecessary.

FIG. 6 is an exemplary illustrative diagram of an exemplary system forplacing an eCall. Exemplary vehicular devices include an RCM 151, aneCall receiver 153, a mirror (or other physical installation) containinga microphone 159, one or more media outputs 157, and a powerdistribution juncture box 155 (PDJB).

According to one or more illustrative embodiments, when the RCM orequivalent device registers a qualified crash event, the RCM notifies165 the eCall receiver.

The eCall receiver may have several functions to perform. It may remainin contact with the RCM 167 to report when a call has been placed. Thismay permit the RCM to stop requesting a call from eCall receiver 153. Itmay also receive user input through a microphone, and play back operatorinput through a media output. Additionally, the eCall receiver 153 maymaintain a BLUETOOTH, USB, etc. connection to a nomadic device 161,through which a call can be placed to a 911 operator 163.

The PDJB may, among other things, activate SOS features when a crashoccurs. These could include flashing lights, honking horns, car alarms,etc. Since some of these features might interfere with a call, the PDJBmay terminate the interfering features when a call is being placedand/or is connected. This will allow the driver to more easilycommunicate with the 911 operator.

In one non-limiting example, the horn and other audible devices aresuppressed as long as a call is recognized as being in progress. In anyother condition, the SOS signals, such as the horn, continue to sound inorder to draw attention to the accident.

Further, it may be prohibited in certain areas to have a 911 autodialer,or a user may simply want to avoid calling 911 in the event of a minorcrash. In these cases, among others, the vehicle may play a message tothe driver when a 911 call is going to be placed. This could allow thedriver an opportunity to cancel the outgoing call.

In at least one illustrative embodiment, a restraint control module(RCM) 151 and an eCall transceiver 153 are in communication with oneanother. In one embodiment, the RCM may regularly transmit a signalindicating that no eCall is requested. This signal can be updated, forexample, every 150 ms, or any suitable update period.

Once a crash event is detected by the RCM (or other emergency detectionmodule or system), on the next update (or upon the event if periodiccommunication is not implemented), the RCM 151 can send a signalrequesting that eCall transceiver 153 make an eCall. The eCalltransceiver 153 might also be in communication with the RCM, such thatmessages can be sent back. For example, when receiving a no-requestsignal, the eCall transceiver can reply with a signal indicating that nocall has been requested. If a call request comes through, the eCalltransceiver can transmit back a variety of signals to the RCM,including, but not limited to: call in progress, call completed, callcanceled, call unsuccessful (e.g., no phone is connected for calling),or eCall is turned OFF. Additional or fewer communication states can beused as needed.

For example, if the RCM transmits a request for a call, it may continuetransmitting the request as long as it is being signaled that a call isrequested. Once the call has been, for example, placed, completed,cancelled, determined unsuccessful, etc., the RCM may return totransmitting a signal that no call is requested. Note, in this case, nocall requested signal does not indicate that a call should beterminated, but rather, that one is not requested to be placed.

If the response is invalid, corrupted, not received, etc., the RCM mightregister the last valid received state as the presently received state.In such a case, if no indication that the call had been placed,completed, etc. had been validly received, then the RCM might continueto request a call. Or, if there is no last valid state saved, the RCMmight default to registering a “normal” (i.e. no call placed) state,causing the request to again continue. This helps ensure that a call isrequested until the RCM confirms the call has been placed.

In the event an eCall is requested and not canceled, eCall transceiver153 may operate nomadic device 161 (e.g. mobile phone, PDA, etc.) todial “911” or another emergency number. In one embodiment, eCalltransceiver 153 may communicate with CPU 72 (FIG. 2) which in turncommunicates with nomadic device 161. In an alternative embodiment, awireless telephone may be fixed to the vehicle, or otherwise regularlytravel with the vehicle.

In yet another alternative embodiment, the eCall transceiver 153 mayinclude or be in communication with a wireless network accesstransceiver 400. Wireless network access transceiver 400 may beconfigured to communicate with a Wireless Local Area Network (LAN), WideArea Network (WAN), Wi-Fi network, or the like, if such a wirelessnetwork exists within the vicinity of the vehicle.

In the event an emergency call is requested, the local LAN/WANtransceiver 400 at the vehicle may communicate wirelessly with a remoteLAN/WAN transceiver 401 located remotely from the vehicle. RemoteLAN/WAN transceiver 401, upon receiving a request for emergency call,may establish a connection with “911” call center 163. The connectionmay be established over network 402 (e.g. Internet) or by telephoneswitch. In one embodiment, an emergency call network switch 403 may beimplemented to route an emergency call received at WAN transceiver 401to the nearest 911 call center 163. In one embodiment, the IP address ofthe LAN/WAN transceiver 401 may be used to determine the approximatelocation of LAN/WAN transceiver 401. A look-up table 404 may be accessedto determine the IP address or telephone number of the nearest 911 callcenter to the location or IP address of the LAN/WAN transceiver 401. Inanother embodiment, the location of the vehicle may be determined by GPSmodule 84 (FIG. 2). That location may be communicated through localLAN/WAN transceiver 400 to remote WAN transceiver 401 together with theemergency call request. Emergency call switch 403 may receive thisinformation and access look-up table 404 to determine the nearest 911call center 163 based on the GPS information received from the GPSmodule 84. That nearest call center 163 may then be contacted bytelephone, by network connection, or otherwise.

In an alternative embodiment, GPS module 84 may be an integral componentof nomadic device 161. Vehicle location may be determined by accessingthe GPS module 84 located within the nomadic device 161 or locatedwithin system 88 (FIG. 2).

Local WAN transceiver 400 is not limited to the proximity of a vehicle.It may be a component of a nomadic device (e.g. mobile phone, PDA,etc.), or even a hand-held device. A traditional LAN/WAN router/accesspoint could also be configured to transmit an emergency call. Theemergency call could be triggered by a button on the LAN/WAN networkaccess device, or by another device that is in communication with theLAN/WAN network access device. In other words, a “telephone” is notnecessary to make an emergency call utilizing this aspect of the presentinvention. Any network access point anywhere (not limited to a vehicle)could be configured to contact emergency call switch 403 for locatingand contacting 911 call center 163 in the event of an emergency. Thisincludes network access points located in the home, office, and thoseembedded within personal computers, laptop computers, cellulartelephones and PDAs. Alternatively, network access points such asLAN/WAN routers may be configured to identify the IP address or otheridentifying information (such as telephone number) of the local 911 callcenter or PSAP. In this embodiment, emergency call switch 403 may not benecessary.

It may also be desirable to have the RCM record call requests fordiagnostic purposes. FIG. 7 is an exemplary state diagram of an RCM orequivalent device. In this non-limiting example, the RCM transitionsbetween a “normal” state 181 and a state where an eCall is requested(e.g., an “active” state) 183.

If the RCM is presently in a normal state, it remains there if aqualified event (e.g. airbag deployment) does not occur. Until atriggering event occurs, the RCM will remain in “normal” state.

If a qualified event occurs, the RCM may request an eCall, record atimestamp showing that an eCall was requested, and transition to an“active” state.

As long as a call in progress signal or the like is received by the RCM,it may remain in the active state. Once a confirmation comes that thecall was, for example, completed, cancelled, etc., the RCM may record anend of call timestamp and transition back to a “normal” state.Additionally, for example, if messages are not received from the eCalltransceiver, the RCM may log error messages so that diagnostics candetermine there is a breakdown in communication.

FIG. 8 is an exemplary state diagram of an eCall transceiver orequivalent device. While no call is being placed, the eCall transceiverremains in a “normal” state 201. In this state, it notifies the RCM thatit is not placing a call by sending a “normal” signal to the RCM. Thereceiver will remain in this state until a request from the RCM triggersa state change.

For example, if the RCM requests a call, the receiver may register as“active” and transition to a call in progress through a nomadic device.In addition, it may start a countdown timer before making the call,giving the user an opportunity to cancel the call. Once the timer is up,the receiver may have transitioned into a call in progress state 203.

Or, if eCall is disabled, even if the receiver registers as “active”, itwill be unable to place a call. In this case, it may transition to acanceled state 209. The canceled state may also be reached from the callin progress state if the caller cancels the call. Once the call iscanceled, the receiver may notify the RCM that the call was canceled andreturn to a normal state.

If the call is in progress, the call may be ended because the nomadicdevice is unavailable. That is, although the receiver is attempting toplace a call, there is no nomadic device that is free for data transfer.In this case, the receiver may transition to an unsuccessful state 205.The receiver may also retry the call for a definable number of timesbefore reaching this state, in an attempt to find a working nomadicdevice, for example.

The call may also be completed when one party hangs up. If the receiverdetects that the user or operator has ended the call, the receiver maytransition to a call complete state 207. In both this state and theunsuccessful state, the receiver may notify the RCM that it has returnedto a normal state, since the call is no longer being placed in eitherevent.

Finally, in this non-limiting example, if the eCall receiver is turnedoff from an “on” state, the receiver may transition to an “off” state211 to, for example, notify the user that eCall has been turned off.Once the notification is made, the receiver can return to its normalstate, where it waits for further instructions.

While the illustrative embodiments may be provided in a vehicle wherethey are automatically activated, it may also be desirable to requiresome initialization before activating the system.

FIG. 9 shows an exemplary routine for activating an eCall system. First,there may be a vehicle regional code programmable at manufacture. Thismay indicate the region of the world in which the vehicle is intended tobe deployed. This code may also be changeable by, for example, a dealeror other authorized agent.

The system checks the region code to see if emergency services areavailable in the deployed region 221. If not, the eCall system cannot beactivated 227.

If the services are available, then, in this illustrative embodiment,the system checks to see if a primary phone is present in the vehicle223. Typically, in a system with primary and secondary phones, theprimary phone will belong to the owner of the vehicle. If the primaryphone is present, the system proceeds with registration, otherwise itdoes not 227.

The system then asks the user if eCall activation is desired 225. If so,eCall is activated for the primary and all secondary phones 229, else itis not 227.

While various exemplary, illustrative, non-limiting embodiments havebeen described in detail, those familiar with the art to which thisinvention relates will recognize various alternative designs andembodiments for practicing the invention, which is only limited by thefollowing claims.

1. A vehicle communication system comprising: a computer processor incommunication with persistent and non-persistent memory; a localwireless transceiver in communication with the computer processor andconfigured to communicate wirelessly with a cellular telephone locatedat the vehicle; and a backup power circuit comprising a charge storagedevice such as a local battery or capacitor having enough charge topower the computer processor and local wireless transceiver long enoughto send an emergency call signal to the cellular telephone, wherein thepersistent memory includes an application for execution by the computerprocessor to communicate an emergency call command signal from localwireless transceiver to the cellular telephone in the event a vehicleemergency is detected at the computer processor and vehicle power islost, causing the cellular telephone to place or continue an emergencycall to an emergency responder or agency over the cellular telephonenetwork.
 2. The vehicle communication system of claim 1, wherein theemergency call signal includes an instruction to wait for apredetermined period of time before the wireless device makes the call.3. The vehicle communication system of claim 2, wherein the instructionto wait for a predetermined period of time further comprises a series ofcommas sent before an emergency number that the phone is to dial.
 4. Thevehicle communication system of claim 1, wherein vehicle power lossincludes the vehicle being manually powered down.
 5. The vehiclecommunication system of claim 1, wherein vehicle power loss includes thevehicle being manually powered down and a door being opened.
 6. Thevehicle communication system of claim 1, wherein continuing an emergencycall includes handling a call that has already been placed and is inprogress, and wherein the processor is operable to transfer control ofthe input and output of the call entirely to the wireless device.
 7. Avehicle-based computing system comprising: a processor; and atransceiver operable to communicate with the processor and to receiveinformation for transmission to the processor and to send informationfrom the processor to a wireless device, wherein: the transceiver isfurther operable to send instructions from the processor to the wirelessdevice, the instructions preventing all other incoming and outgoingtransmission from the nomadic device except for the emergency call. 8.The vehicle-based computing system of claim 7, further including atransfer input, wherein activation of the transfer input causes controlof the emergency call to be transferred from a vehicle-based system tothe wireless device.
 9. The vehicle-based computing system of claim 7,further including a cancellation input, wherein activation of thecancellation input cancels the transfer of the call to the wirelessdevice.
 10. The vehicle-based computing system of claim 7, whereinincoming portions of the emergency call are output through vehiclespeakers, and outgoing portions of the emergency call are input througha vehicle microphone, the apparatus further including a controllerhaving control over one or more SOS notifications, including an audiblenotification that is activated at least in the event of a vehicleaccident, wherein the controller suppresses the audible notificationwhile the emergency call is in progress.
 11. A vehicle communicationsystem comprising: a computer processor in communication with persistentand non-persistent memory; a local wireless network transceiver incommunication with the computer processor, configured to communicatewirelessly with a remote wireless network transceiver connected to acomputer network, wherein the persistent memory includes an applicationfor execution by the computer processor to communicate an emergency callsignal from the local wireless network transceiver to the remotewireless network transceiver in the event of an emergency at thevehicle.
 12. The system of claim 11, wherein the remote wireless networktransceiver is operable to convert the received signal into one or morepackets for transmission over the computer network to notify anemergency responder or agency that an emergency has occurred at thevehicle.
 13. The system of claim 12, wherein the remote transceiver isoperable to route the packets to a network router operable to route thepackets to the appropriate network address for addressing the emergency.14. The system of claim 13, wherein the appropriate network address isbased on at least one of: the network address of the remote wirelesstransceiver or the location of the vehicle, as defined by vehiclelocation information included with the emergency call signal.
 15. Thesystem of claim 15, wherein the vehicle location information is suppliedto the computer processor at the vehicle by a global positioning system.16. The system of claim 12, wherein the packets include data orattributes identifying the packets as emergency call packets forfacilitating routing through the computer network.